Pony runners ready for state

The Havre High cross country teams have had another solid season to this point, but with just one weekend left on the schedule, everything the Blue Ponies have worked for is on the line.

Saturday the Central A Ponies will run in the Class A state meet in Helena. The HHS girls enter the state meet as back-to-back c

Havre High senior Jess Wiken runs in the Central A race last Saturday in Havre. Wiken and the Blue Pony girls a re a trophy contender at Saturday's Class A state meet, which will take place at Bill Roberts Golf course in Helena.

onference champions, while the HHS boys are coming off of a No. 4 finish at the Central A meet.

"This is an emotional race," Havre High head coach Kyle Fisher said. "But it is the meet that you train for all year, and the meet that you look forward to all year. This is where you want to get a PR (personal record) and run your best race of the season, so as time gets closer, the kids just keep getting more and more excited."

And it has been a long, but successful road leading to the state meet this season.

Like every season, the Ponies ran a tough schedule. They competed in meets in Cut Bank, Malta, Lewistown, the Mountain West in Missoula, and the Helena Preview meet in Helena. They also hosted the annual Havre meet, as well as the Central A meet this year, while the girls finished first at Malta, the Havre meet, and divisionals. They also finished second at Lewistown, while the HHS boys had top finishes like their first place finish at Malta.

But now that the final meet of the season is here, the Ponies are looking to better all of their previous times and finishes, and bring home some state hardware.

In the girls field, Corvallis is heavily favored as the returning state champions, while Hamilton, Lewistown, and Glendive are also going to be very tough to beat.

But the Ponies are also heavily favored after their fantastic season to this point, and their No. 3 finish last season. Jess Wiken, Katie Christianson, Trisha Kinsella and Lorissa Price will lead the way as the top four runners, while Morgan Mazurkiewicz, Kiana Robertson, and Liz Facio will also look to have their best outing as the five, six and seven runners.

"To be one of the top three teams again," Fisher said. "Is definitely their goal. And they are very capable of doing that, but we have talked a lot about the pressures that success can bring on. Corvallis, the returning state champs, and again one of the top teams, but the pressure is on them really, so we are just going to go our and run the way we are capable of, and see what the results are."

On the boys side of things, Hamilton is the favored team to take the title, but the Ponies have the potential to land anywhere from top to bottom. If Marc Klimas, Elijah David, Desmond Fialkosky, Sundance Lodge, Derek VanDessel, Bren Broadhead and Dylan Stewart run well, then HHS could easily be in the top five, but if they struggle, they could fall down the ranks.

"It has to start as individuals," Fisher said. "They have to step up and have a good pack time, and they can be a top five team if they run well. I expect them to finish in the top 10, but it would amazing if they get into the top five."

Overall, the Ponies need production from top to bottom, on both squads. They have gotten great production from their top four runners all season long, and that is expected to be the same on Saturday. But if the Ponies truly want to make some noise, and have a shot at a state title, then both squads need to get a huge increase of production from their five, six, and seven runners. VanDessel, Brodhead, Stewart, Mazurkiewicz, Robertson and Facio have been outstanding thus far, but could push the Ponies over the top this weekend. If they can step up and catch some of the runner ahead of them, look for the Ponies to get two top finishes.

"We have talked a lot to our one through five runners as a pack," Fisher said. "And how important it is for our No. 5's to finish as close as they can to our No. 1's. But our six and our sevens have to step up and help us out by pushing other teams backwards by getting in front of their fours and fives. It is going to take one through seven definitely to be successful."

Saturday the Ponies will look to achieve state excellence in Helena at the Class A state cross country meet.